July 29, 2006

Room Name/Number PSD Heads Up in 2007

For those making the transition to Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2007 who are planning on migrating existing drawings to 2007 but who will be using the 2007 out-of-the-box content for room tags or who may want to use an existing custom tag with the 2007 out-of-the-box Property Set Definitions, be aware that there has been a change in the name of the Property Set Definition that holds the properties used for room tags.

In Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2006 and earlier, the RoomObjects Property Set Definition held these properties; in Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2007, the SpaceObjects Property Set Definition does. Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2006 had a SpaceObjects Property Set Definition, but it was identical to the SpaceStyles Property Set Definition, and contained automatic properties associated with Spaces.

ADT 2006 Room Objects Property Set Definition

ADT 2007 Space Objects Property Set Definition

If you migrate previous drawings to 007, be certain to rename the RoomObjects Property Set Definition to SpaceObjects if you want to use the 2007 out-of-the-box tags. If you migrate both old drawings and old content, you would not have to make the change, but keep in mind that other Property Set Definitions with Location properties may also reference the room properties, so either bring all of your old sets and content or be prepared to edit property references if you mix and match.

If you have a custom tag that you want to use with the 2007 Property Sets, make a copy of the content file for use in 2007 [unless you will never use a previous version ever again], and then edit the view blocks, changing the attribute tag names to refer to the SpaceObjects Property Set Definition, rather than the RoomObjects Property Set Definition.

Also note that the "Name" property is no longer a manual property but now references a newly added automatic property source, which can be filled in on the Design tab of the Properties palette, in the General subheading of the Basic category. You can assign a List Definition that applies to Space Names if you like, to make it easier to enter names in a consistent manner. If you prefer multi-line tags that use multiple attributes for multiple lines, you will have to add the needed properties and create/migrate your custom tag.

4 comments:

David --I am using Architecture 2009. I have a project set up with constructs and views and sheets. I am able to successfully tag doors on my Spaces drawing, but I would rather tag them on my View drawing. However, when I try to tag them on the View drawing, the tag is reading a random room number from my base construct, rather than reading the room number from the Spaces drawing. I've tried to change the door number under the Door Objects in the Property Set Definitions, but no success. Could you please help? Thanks!

Is the Spaces drawing a View drawing? If so, do the room numbers in the base construct agree with the room numbers in the Spaces drawing? There might be property data overrides in the Spaces drawing (or in the base construct, depending upon how you have the external references assembled) that hold different room numbers.

If that is not the problem, is the location property that is reading the room number for use in the door number reading the same room number property as the room tag does?

The Spaces is a Construct. The tags in Spaces are correct -- they are under SpaceObjects and named NumberProjectBased with a formula of Division ID/Level/Increment (to get a room number with a letter, a floor, and an increment). The tags in both the base construct and the views are wrong, and they're the same numbers.

How is the Spaces contruct getting into the View drawing? It sounds like you have the Spaces Construct externally referenced in your "Base Construct" as an attached, rather than overlaid reference, and then are referencing the Base Construct into the View file, with the Spaces file as a nested external reference. If so, then when you tag the Spaces in the View file, a property data override is placed in the Base Construct, allowing the Spaces there to have different data than they have in the Spaces drawing.

I am not an expert on Project Navigator, but I believe the proper work flow would be to have the Spaces Construct directly referenced by the View file, so that the property data "lives" in that file. If you need to see the Spaces (or at least the Room Tags), the Spaces Construct should be overlaid into your Base Construct (and, if there are Space Tags in the Spaces Drawing, it would be best to use those). When tagging in a View file in a Project Navigator project, ACD-A "knows" to locate the data at the Construct level, so a property data override is not placed in the View file. Likewise, Element files are attached to Construct files, since an Element file does not have a specific location in the project until it is referenced into a Construct (and can be referenced multiple times, if desired). Tagging a Space that is drawn in a Element file that is nested within a Construct results in no override in the View file but there is one in the Construct file (allowing multiple references to each have unique data).

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About Me

I am an architect employed by EwingCole in its Philadelphia office, currently serving as the Design Technology Manager. In addition to using ADT/ACA and Revit on the job, I serve as a moderator in the AUGI Forums and formerly served as a facilitator for the Autodesk ADT/ACA Discussion Groups.